


A Placid Island of Ignorance

by the_six_fingered_villain



Category: Watchmen, Watchmen - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:48:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_six_fingered_villain/pseuds/the_six_fingered_villain
Summary: Picking up after the end of season 1, following Agent Laurie Blake and Detective Wade Tillman
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	A Placid Island of Ignorance

Laurie rubbed her hands together, the brief spike of adrenaline that had surged through her was wearing off and she could feel the Antarctica chill creeping into everything not protected by the parka. The desk before her wasn't that cluttered and the two drawers she'd pulled out to toss across the floor barely made a mess. Nothing but papers and one ornate fountain pen. She didn't know why Adrian would have kept ropes or the such in his garage's desk, but the guy was weird and she was desperate. There was a shelf to her left that looked to hold nothing but porcelain statues, useless for any sort of ship maintenance, and while she doubted she'd find anything behind it her frustration suggested she should tip it over to check behind 'just in case'. 

"Here!" Detective Tillman called from a surprisingly far distance away. "Here, I found this-" he was trailing a length of electrical cord behind him, a lamp in his hands as he emerged from the stacks. Gripping at its base, he wrenched the wire from the device and tossed the lamp aside to shatter on the concrete floor. "I think this will be enough."

"Really?" she asked skeptically as he hurried over to the limp form of Adrian. The man spared her a brief dry stare before turning his attention back on their prisoner. "I'm actually pretty good at this, let me-"

"It's fine," the man said in that defensive tone Dan would often use and Laurie rolled her eyes, turning away. "Feel free to continue to search for and find your own means of securing the prisoner." With a huff, Laurie turned back, again rubbing her hands, anxious to do something but now unwilling to let Adrian out of her sight. The Tulsa PD had proven to be precariously competent so far but she didn't want to leave anyone alone with Veitd when he woke up, which looked to be any moment now.

Adrian groaned just as Wade leaned back, revealing a reasonably secure binding of Veidt's hands to his feet. Laurie gave an approving nod and shoved her hands in her pockets to suppress any further nervous ticks. She felt the absence of her gun like an almost ache. Having it to gesture with, to threaten Adrian with, would have been comforting. As the man's eyes fluttered open, nothing but silence echoed in the room. She'd expected him to monologue once again or something stupid like that but his almost resigned sullen pout was unsettling.

"What? Got nothing to say? You didn't give him brain damage, did you?" she asked, turning towards Detective Tillman without breaking eye contact with Adrian. "Is he bleeding?" To his credit, the man did lean down and inspect their prisoner's scalp. Veidt shook his head and drew away from the touch, glaring at the detective before turning to stare up at Laurie.

"You have made your point, Agent. I surrender." The overly dramatic ring to the response set off all her bullshit detectors but Detective Tillman huffed to himself and shook his head.

Standing up, the detective ran his hands through his own hair, causing it to further stand on end, and stepped over to her side. Leaning in he murmured under his breath, "I think he's telling the truth and I find that to be mildly disturbing." His hand drifted to press against the coat pocket holding his CD. It was a gesture she'd seen him make twice already and she wondered what exactly was on it. "Are you sure this is going to work?" He gave her a surprisingly pleading expression and she found herself blinking in mild surprise.

"Hell no," she muttered, reaching down to roll Adrian into a more seated position. "But I need to at least try." There was an urge to handle the man roughly, more so than just her normal distain for Alpha Mask prisoners, and it was growing stronger by the minute with Adrian's strange behavior. "Besides, you said you had proof... what more do we need?" She could feel the vague nausea in her gut churning as she soundly tried to avoid thinking about the consequences of her actions. To really think through the ramifications of such a lie exposed to the American public. Instead she tried to focus on Dan. Dan, who had gone to Antarctica so many years ago with Rorschach and returned without his friend, a different man. He'd stood on a similarly precarious cliff and chosen the wrong way out of it. It was foolish to think she'd be able to expose such an epic coverup on her own, but she'd seen the damage it would to do a soul not to try. 

There was very little resistance or reluctance even as Laurie demanded the information and supplies needed for their flight back to civilization. When actual rope was found and Laurie re-tied her prisoner so she could frog march him onto the ship, a feeling of nostalgia in the action leaving a sour taste in her mouth. She much preferred cuffing her catches and shoving them into the back of a squad car these days. Detective Tillman, somewhat sullen, went about the compound fetching the items while Laurie kept watch over Veidt and interrogated him further as to where he had been. 

The handful of flippant responses she got, "off playing god" or "practicing for this very situation" did nothing but inflame her irritation with the man. When Detective Tillman dropped the last of the supplies in a pile by the ship's door, he paused to point a finger at a bored looking Adrian. "That's enough of you of," the Detective drawled, "or I'll hit you again with the wrench." He reached out to pat the item where it lay across the dashboard. It was the closest thing they'd been able to find for a weapon and Laurie was reluctant to actually bring something more deadly given the odds Adrian would be able to turn it against them.

Detective Tillman slid into the pilot's seat and sat for a moment, hands on the steering wheel. It was a moment that stretched on long enough for even Veidt to raise an eyebrow. "What's up, Mirror Guy?" she teased, sensing he was waiting for some sort of order or approval to take off. She'd worked with such types before and could never resist needling them. Dan hand found it charming for the first couple years, but she'd never done it be charming, she did it for her own fucking amusement. Detective Tillman flexed his fingers on the wheel and then gripped it again. 

"Just wondering if you wanted to perhaps say a couple words or anything," he nodded his head, looking straight ahead in the cockpit. He wore neither his reflective mask nor that ugly Rorschach one he'd picked up along the way, but his expression remained both inscrutable and obvious as it had been in the office. "We are about to undertake a rather precarious endeavor that could have far reaching ramifications. It seemed... it seemed like perhaps a moment one might want to mark.... It's what Judd liked to do, always had a big build up speech before something. Sort of building himself up and anyone else within ear shot...." The man continued to stare out the window in a rather bleak and empty manner. "Of course he was a seventh cavalry piece of shit," the man added almost to himself, almost as if the thought had been momentarily forgotten. 

Laurie rubbed a hand over her lips to help suppress the snarky statement she was more than half ready to spill out. Despite what everyone at the Bureau thought, she didn't _just_ run her mouth off. It was just that in _most_ situations it didn't matter what she said, but this was not one of them. They needed to stay alert and working together was going to be rather key for the next couple hours, days even and she swallowed the comparison she'd been so eager to make. Before she could find a neutral enough response to reply with, Detective Tillman began the take off procedure and they were on their way out of the bunker. She'd been prepared to offer a sharp retort had Adrian tried to offer a parting sentiment but they began their flight across the frozen tundra in silence. 


End file.
